Folding and stacking chair



March 4, 1952 E. D. CAKES 2,587,881

FOLDING AND STACKING CHAIR Filed Jan. 26, 1950 2 SHEET $SHEET l IN V EN TOR.

far/ 2 fla/ms' March 4, 1952 E. D. OAKES FOLDING AND STACKING CHAIR 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Filed Jan. 26, 1950 5 m0 1 V 6 m 7 k a W i Patented Mar. 4, 1952 FOLDING AND STACKING CHAIR Earle D. Oakes, Drexel Hill, Pa., assignor to Archie Lewy, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application January 26, 1950, Serial No. 140,619

8 Claims.

My invention relates to a chair of the type which can be folded and stacked up when not in use.

One object of the invention is to produce an improved chair of the type set forth.

A further object is to produce a folding and stacking chair which is easily erected and easily folded and which, when folded and stacked, will occupy minimum space.

A still further object is to produce a chair of the type set forth which will have a minimum number of parts, which will be strong and durable and which will be relatively inexpensive of manufacture.

A still further object is to produce an improved chair of the type set forth which will be versatile in its uses.

These and other objects are attained by my invention as set forth in the following specification and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a chair embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational View of the chair shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is similar to Fig. 2 except that the chair seat is made of rigid instead of flexible, material.

Fig. 4 is an exploded view, on an enlarged scale of the portion which is enclosed by broken lines in Fig. 3.

Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are side elevational views illustrating some of the additional uses to which the chair can be put.

Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic view showing the manner in which the chair may be stacked when not in use.

The chair of my invention is formed, mainly, of two substantially identical members which are pivotally connected together to provide supporting legs and to provide a combined back rest and a seat support. As shown, the legs are formed of two identical members, I and i2, and the combined back rest and seat support is formed of two identical members 14 and I6 which differ very slightly from the members Ill and I 2. Each of the members ID, l2, l4 and I6 is formed of two limbs which are preferably integral and which are substantially normal to each other. The members l0, l2, l4 and [6 may be made of ordinary lumber or from plywood, or they may be formed of metal which is stamped or bent to the desired shape and contour. The members l0 and I4 and the members l2 and I6 are pivotally secured together by bolts IE, to form the opposite sides of the chair, and wing nuts 2 are provided whereby the respective members may be firmly clamped together when it is desired to prevent rotation of the combined back rest and seat support relative to legs [0 and I2. A cross brace 22 is disposed between, and is secured to, the front ends of the limbs 24- and 26 of the members i l and I6 and a cross brace 28 is disposed between and secured to members I4 and it near the apices thereof as best shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3.

The. cross braces 22 and 28 serve to hold the two'sides of the chair together in spaced relation and to support the seat of the chair. In Figs. 1 and 2 the seat is shown formed of a piece of canvas, leather, or other flexible, natural or synthetic, material 30 which envelops the cross braces 22 and 28 and the edges of which are laced together as at 32. In Fig. 3 the seat is shown formed of a rigid material 33 such as wood, plastic, metal or other material a'ndis permanently or detachably secured to the cross braces 22 and 28, or to the arms 24 and 26 of members [4 and H5, or to both, in any desired manner. The seat may be upholstered or not as desired.

The chair may be provided with any suitable plain or upholstered, permanently or detachably secured, back rest. In practice, I prefer to use a back rest 34 formed of rigid material and covered with canvas 36, or the like, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, or fully upholstered back rest can be used if so desired. For comfort, the back rest 34 is provided with end, elongated slots 38 which receive dowels 40 carried by the arms 4| and '42 of the members l4 and [6. By this arrangement, the back rest can be moved up and down relative to, and can be rotated about the fixed dowels 40 as shown in broken lines in Fig. 2.

When the wing nuts 28 are backed off somewhat to permit free rotation of the members I4 and it on bolts IS, the chair can be used as a rocking chair as shown in Fig. 2. In other words, the members it and l E, which carry the seat and the back rest can be moved as far as desired, in clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 2, and can then be moved back until the seat comes to rest on cross brace 45 which is carried by the members l0 and 12 near and forwardly of their apices. It will be noted that when so rocking, the legs of the chair do not themselves rock or leave the ground.

If desired, the members It and Hi can be moved, relative to members In and [2, to the position shown in Figs. 5 and 6. In this position, cushions 44 or the like can be placed, as shown in Fig. 6 to form a cradle for a child. If it is desired to rock the child, the wing nuts 20 are left loose.

If it is' not desired to rock, the wing nuts are tightened.

With the wing nuts tightened, logs 46 for use in an indoor or outdoor fireplace can be stored and a serving tray 48 can be supported on the upturned ends of members I9 and IS in the manner shown in Fig. 5.

By moving the members It and IE; to the position shown in Fig. 7, a beach chair is produced. In this arrangement, the seat, be it flexible or rigid, will rest on the ground and the back rest will be in its vertical position.

It will be noted that the seat is disposed between the arms 24 and 26 which, in turn, are disposed between the members I and 12 as best shown in Fig. 1. By this arrangement, the members l4 and [6 can be rotated in clockwise direction about pivot bolts I8 until they assume the nested relationship shown in Fig. 8 in which the chair will resemble an inverted V-shape. In other words, the entire chair now assumes a compact, inverted V-shape which takes about only as much room as would normally be occupied by the members l0 and I2.

What I claim is:

1. A chair including a first pair of substantially identical members, each formed of two limbs which are substantially normal to each other,

cross braces connected to and spacing said members, a second pair of substantially identical members,'each formed of two limbs which are substantially normal to each other, and fastening means rotatably connecting the members of the said first pair to the corresponding members of said second pair, said means passing through said members near the junctions of the limbs thereof respectively.

2. The structure recited in claim 1 in each of which said members is inte ral.

3. The structure recited in claim 1 together with clamping means for preventing rotation of said pairs of members relative to each other.

4. The structure recited in claim 1 in which the members of said first pair are secured to the juxtaposed inner faces of the corresponding members of said second pair whereby said first and second pairs may be moved about the axis of said fastening means to a position in which the members of the said first pair are nested within and are substantially congruent with the corresponding members of said second pair.

5. The structure recited in claim 4 together with a cross brace carried by th members of said second pair at a point spacea from said fastening means for limiting rotation of said first pair of members, in either direction, relative said second pair of members.

6. A chair including a first pair of substantially identical members, each formed of two limbs which are substantially normal to each other, and adapted when in inverted position, to form spaced front and spaced rear legs for said chair, a second pair of substantially identical members, each formed of two limbs which are substantially normal to each other and adapted to support the seat and the back rest of the chair, fastening means rotatably connecting the members of said second pair to the members of said first pair, with the members of said second pair abutting the inner juxtaposed faces of said first pair of members and with said fastening means passing through said members near the apices thereof, a first cross brace connecting and separating the members of said second pair, and a second cross brace extending between said front legs and spaced from said fastening means whereby, when said second pair of members is rotated in one direction about the axis of said fastening means, the limbs forming one side of the second pair of members will come to rest on said second cross brace to support said limbs in a substantially horizontal position to receive and support a seat for said chair.

7. The structure recited in claim 6 together with a back rest carried by the limbs forming the other side of said second pair of members.

8. The structure recited in claim 7 together with means rotatably and linearly movably securing said back rest in position.

EARLE D. OAKES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

. UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 221,141 Smith Oct. 28, 1879 262,190 Valiant Aug. 1, 1882 2,308,644 Caldmeyer Jan. 19, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 820,791 France Aug. 9, 1937 OTHER REFERENCES Home Craftsman, May-June 1950. 

